Here Are The New Even More Repressive Chinese Internet Laws

China has unveiled tighter Internet controls, legalising the
deletion of posts or pages which are deemed to contain "illegal"
information and requiring service providers to hand over such
information to the authorities for punishment.

The rules signal that the new leadership headed by Communist
Party chief Xi Jinping will continue muzzling the often scathing,
raucous online chatter in a country where the Internet offers a
rare opportunity for debate.

The new regulations, announced by the official Xinhua news
agency, also require Internet users to register with their real
names when signing up with network providers, though, in reality,
this already happens.

Chinese authorities and Internet companies such as Sina Corp have
long since closely monitored and censored what people say online,
but the government has now put measures such as deleting posts
into law.

"Service providers are required to instantly stop the
transmission of illegal information once it is spotted and take
relevant measures, including removing the information and saving
records, before reporting to supervisory authorities," the rules
state.

The restrictions follow a series of corruption scandals amongst
lower-level officials exposed by Internet users, something the
government has said it is trying to encourage.

Li Fei, deputy head of parliament's legislative affairs
committee, said the new rules did not mean people needed to worry
about being unable to report corruption online. But he added a
warning too.

"When people exercise their rights, including the right to use
the Internet, they must do so in accordance with the law and
constitution, and not harm the legal rights of the state, society
... or other citizens," he told a news conference.

Earlier this year, the government began forcing users of Sina's
wildly successful Weibo microblogging platform to register their
real names.

The new rules were quickly condemned by some Weibo users.

"So now they are getting Weibo to help in keeping records and
reporting it to authorities. Is this the freedom of expression we
are promised in the constitution?" complained one user.

"We should resolutely oppose such a covert means to interfere
with Internet freedom," wrote another.

The government says tighter monitoring of the Internet is needed
to prevent people making malicious and anonymous accusations
online, disseminating pornography and spreading panic with
unfounded rumours, pointing out that many other countries already
have such rules.

Despite periodic calls for political reform, the party has shown
no sign of loosening its grip on power and brooks no dissent to
its authority.